Other than actually staying on top of obligations, more time with family, etc but outside of that I play video games.

Fantasize about drinking.

watch documentary shows read quit lit to reinforce your decision

i’m still on the struggle bus

good on you, keep trying

I'm one of the few that actually liked my old life but had to quit (or if you count my many fuckups, statistically moderate) for health reasons. So I pretty much do exactly what I used to but drink NA beer instead and just pretend I have an infinite tolerance. There is evidence hops have a physical effect (google "hops psychoactive") so I buy the hop bomb NA beers. Probably two per day. If I'm missing the afternoon passout effect I just pop a melatonin gummy when I put a game or movie on or fire up the xbox.

Cooking is nice too and takes a surprising amount of time. I just roasted some broccoli, red bell peppers, beets, green beans, and corn to have them ready to go for quick meals, probably with a rotisserie chicken I have yet to buy, maybe buy some tortillas too. Who knows. Also have a dive bar nearby that has a nice NA selection, so I can just go in, have a NA in a glass, listen to music, watch infomercials with no sound, and complain to drunk 60 yr olds about my SO. Feels nice to stop by on the way somewhere and never have to worry about BAC. Just an option.

I can relate to this. Make improving yourself your new top priority. I stopped drinking to try to not lose life's big game. Chase the next dollar. In the beginning I used sugar as a major crutch but since then all I want is to kick bad habits.

deeper i get [7.4yrs dry] more i realize boredom is wonderful. im grateful for it

r/modelmakers - plastic kitsets nowadays are AWESOME

Pretty easy nowadays. Video games, once you bored with that then just scroll on social media. Repeat.

I got back into flying RC airplanes, a hobby I'd lost to drinking. I also started home roasting coffee and relearned photography.

The best distraction has been taking a few (online) college classes each semester. It helps keep the mind sharp and offers a bit of structure for the bulk of my free time.

Usually brainstorming ways to go bye bye

Jiujitsu. If you like watching MMA why not try it?

I'm 7 months now and started getting back into old hobbies I liked and getting MORE into them. Easy one is video games. I'm 42, but I still enjoy a good FPS game from time to time. Mainly rust, but that game is known for being very hard, toxic, and addictive so may not be for you, but I love it. Also got back into fishing in the warm months. Still fished when I was drinking, but I enjoy it more now. The main thing I'm getting back into even more is music. Not just listening, as I always do that, but making my own. I hadn't touched my guitar in 15 years so I'm relearning that properly now. Also slowly learning how to produce and record. Making my own beats with semi professional great and programs, then playing guitar on top of it. I'm just at the very early stages of this as there's a big learning curve, but I'm really enjoying it. I'm getting divorced so once I move out and start over I'll have more free time on my hand. I know the boredom will leave me wanting simulation. Making music gives me a certain type of high I crave.

Yea man its a tough one. Depending on how much you drank you need to fill a lot of time and found mental clarity.

Be open to new things. Try things you might be interested in and even things you might not be interested in. Just make yourself do things. Try new TV series, read a book, try a video game system, a huge one is working out but with this you gotta start with baby steps.

There are a million things you can dry that drinking kept you from doing. It's a reinvention of yourself. It's not always sunshine and rainbows but the alcohol really limited you.

I worked out but thought I would die trying, Morgan Freeman voice, I did not.

Any questions just ask directly. I was so deep I was 24 hours a day and near death. So I did nothing outside of drinking.

Especially in the initial 2 years of my sobriety, I spent a lot of time playing a couple different text based sport sims. 

 If they interest you at all, I highly recommend basketball GM (from zen gm games) and Leather -- the boxing simulator. Both offer a high level of detail, but it's easy to get engrossed in, are simple enough in text based that you can play on your phone to drop it and return it anytime, and are just really well done.

Both are also like a decade-long passion project of a single individual, respectively, both highly active on the message boards, very in reach, constantly making positive updates. Neither have ever made any move to really make money off the game other than the basics to survive. I've sunk hundreds of hours into it and again and again 5 minutes into the game. I totally forget about my urges.

Linking subreddits -- /r/bbgm and /r/leatherthegame 

Give it time, but also, be willing to push yourself to try new things. Like in the early days, you just gotta do whatever to get through the days, even if it includes an embarrassing amount of playing video games or binging TV shows or porn or eating sugar or Chinese food or smoking too much weed or whatever. Like anything to stay away from alcohol, one day at a time. That’s how it was for me. But those things aren’t as helpful in the long term.

I started playing more music, anything to keep my hands and mind busy. Nearly six years later, playing music (bass guitar) has been incredibly fulfilling. Whether I plan for 5 minutes or 30, I try to pick it up every day.

I don’t really watch TV beyond about an hour a night with my partner. I watch a lot of YouTube documentaries, lectures, and other longer form , more educational content.

Journaling has been a healing, therapeutic activity. I don’t read books as often as I should, but I enjoy it when I do. It can lead to some very peaceful mind states.

Exercise is great when I do it. Lately I’ve had great success in taking daily walks and swinging the kettlebell around with YT videos. I think just doing something physical in some capacity is a great place to start if you aren’t already.

I filled so much time with booze, drugs, feeling miserable and running from misery. Once I stopped drinking, suddenly I had more time, energy and money to do whatever I want. True freedom can feel scary at times. The flip side of boredom is peace. I’ll take boredom over the chaos of alcohol-induced oblivion any day 😁

I had a kid. Between that and work all my time is allocated. Don’t need to worry about my lack of hobbies anymore.

boredom is necessary for the highs in a sober life. boredom isn't completely a bad thing

Dude I hit that bottle when I touched US soil from Deployment no alcohol over a year each deployment Then you see the bright lights it's a rap

Watch stuff, read, gym, walk dogs, work. Some of the activities are nice but every day is exactly the same and monotonous. I don't feel like doing more, all I want is to do even less. Complete mental exhaustion. The regularness of life is too hard for me.